Marks the 17th time in the last 18 years that Cats will open the season with a national ranking

TUCSON, Ariz. ?- The University of Arizona men's basketball team will open the season as the nation's 11-ranked team according to the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll, which released its 2004-05 preseason college basketball poll on Thursday.

With 10 squadmen returning from last season's 20-10 ballclub that advanced to the NCAA Tournament, Arizona collected the preseason No. 11 ranking from the coaches with a total of 475 points, including one first-place vote. Kansas, Wake Forest, North Carolina, Georgia Tech and Illinois rounded out the top five places.

It marks the 17th time in the last 18 years in which Arizona has been nationally ranked in the first poll of the season by the coaches.The only break in that streak came to start the 2001-02 campaign.

The Wildcats open the regular season on Tuesday, Nov. 16, against San Diego in the first round of the 2004 Cisco Systems Preseason N.I.T.